


To the Nines

by MusicalLuna



Category: White Collar
Genre: Clothing, Dress Up, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-30
Updated: 2012-09-30
Packaged: 2017-11-15 08:00:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/524986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MusicalLuna/pseuds/MusicalLuna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neal helps Elle get dressed and Peter reaps the benefits.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To the Nines

The house is dark when they arrive home, as it should be, and neither Elizabeth nor Peter bother reaching for the lights when they come through the door, Peter pressed close enough that Elizabeth can feel the heat of his skin through his clothes. The light from the streetlamp out front catches on something behind her and Peter's eyes gleam with it, his smile caught somewhere between fond and hungry.

“Caffrey does know a thing or two about picking out clothes,” he murmurs and Elizabeth smiles, linking her arms around his neck as he pushes the door closed in their wake, reaching blindly to lock it.

“ _Neal, honey, Peter will be here to pick me up in an hour,” Elizabeth says and her voice is warm with amusement._

_Neal straightens up where he's sitting at the foot of the bed, his eyes moving from her crossed arms and cocked hips, currently covered in a fluffy white robe. He lifts his eyebrows and says, chastising, “I'm getting a feel for my canvas. You can't rush these things, Elizabeth.”_

“There's a reason for that,” she tells Peter. She smiles, tucking the secret in the back, between her molars, daring Peter to retrieve it with her gaze. He accepts her challenge and she sighs, clings as Peter delves into her mouth.

They spend several leisurely minutes pressed to the wall at the base of the stairs, Peter teasing the secret loose until neither of them can breathe around it.

“Come on,” he pants and nudges her cheek with his nose. “Upstairs.”

“As you wish,” she says and sheds the black, be-ribboned peep-toe pumps Neal had chosen for her just a few hours ago.

“ _These are perfect. Feminine, classic, sexy. They go with everything.”_

“ _Just about,” Elizabeth agrees and smirks. “That is why I chose them.”_

“ _Let me see them on,” Neal says and strangely enough, Elizabeth doesn't feel awkward sliding into the shoes and watching, waiting for the verdict as Neal traces the lines of her legs with those electric blue eyes. She's seen the same look on his face when he's drawing—appreciative, almost reverent. He nods. “Yeah, those are perfect.”_

She divests Peter of his tie, letting it fall where it may and giggling when Satchmo whines as it drops onto his head. Satchmo shakes it off and wags his tail, noses at Peter's thigh and then hers, his nose wet and cold against the skin of her leg. Peter chuckles and releases her momentarily to crouch and give Satchmo a good scratching. “Hey, boy,” he says, affection thick in his voice. “Good to see you, too.”

Satchmo whines, pleased, his tail wagging harder and then bumps Peter's jaw with his snout before wiggling free and trotting back downstairs to flop down in his usual place by the door. Elizabeth smiles as Peter rises and slides his hands up her sides, his eyes lingering on her body.

“Now where were we?” he says and when he finally pulls his gaze up to her face, it's scorching. He curls a hand around the back of her neck and leans forward, kissing the bow of her clavicle and she lets out a soft breath, chills coursing up the back of her neck as his fingers tease around her ear before slipping one gold hoop free.

_Neal stands behind her at the mirror, intent as he slips the earring through the small hole in her ear, carefully brushing her hair back from her face to watch the way they move and catch the light. “See how it lengthens your neck? Makes the line of your jaw look sharper? Beautiful.”_

“God, you're so beautiful,” Peter murmurs into her throat and Elizabeth lifts a hand to wrap it around the back of his neck, where it's hot against her palm. Her heart beats fast against her ribcage and Peter's shirt whispers across the bare skin over it, just a few meager inches of skin and bone between them. She bites her lip as he eases the other earring free and holds on tight, dragging him into a kiss when he turns his face toward her again.

“ _Hose?” Elizabeth asks, pulling open a drawer and drawing a couple of pairs out._

_Neal shakes his head. “Too formal.”_

Peter reaches for the zipper on her dress then, breaths coming hard and fast and hot against the crook of her neck and Elizabeth feels his fingers tremble slightly as he works the zipper down, a direct contrast to the sure, quick movement of Neal's drawing it up.

“ _There you are,” Neal says, “perfect.”_

The dress slides to the floor and Peter runs his hands down her back, his eyes roving over her bared skin.

“There you are,” he murmurs, “perfect.”


End file.
